“Diana!” he called.
She stopped and looked back.
“I should take my gun,” he said, removing his axe from its sling as he ran down the narrow road to meet her. He held out the axe. She nodded grimly, tucked the shotgun under her arm and pulled the pistol out of her belt.
As she traded it for the axe, he saw fear, defiance and something else in her eyes. Something he didn’t like. Resignation. He held the gun up.
“Guns are for insurance only. Hopefully they go right past without a clue that we’re here, just try to keep everyone calm and quiet.”
He started to turn when she grabbed his wrist and looked at him earnestly.
“Thanks for everything.”
He nodded.
“Thank me after they’re gone.”
He turned and ran for the restaurant in a crouch.
He had barely found himself a position in the front of the restaurant under the main window when the Flight of the Valkyrie ended, and he heard the rumble of a truck engine. It was drowned out when the music started up again.
“Geez, change the song, why don’t you,” he whispered.
34
Rex turned the music on about twenty minutes after they cleared the roadblock. The road was in surprisingly good condition. There were no more fallen trees, and the only real sign they were travelling in a post-apocalyptic world beside the lack of other vehicles was the encroaching forest on either side of the road.
“Keep your eyes peeled,” said Rex.
He didn’t need to tell Simon. Like he had been since he’d graduated to a seat in the cab, the younger of the three sat forward in his seat, peering this way and that with the utmost concentration.
Jarryd, bored stupid, pondered the silliness of that phrase. Keep your eyes peeled. Frankly, he didn’t expect one would see a lot with peeled eyes.
Not long after the Calef Highway transformed as homes, then buildings became more frequent. Epping was a name that started appearing on signs. Jarryd glanced down at the map on Brother Simon’s lap.
“Okay, we’ve reached Epping. The next turn is the 101. They surely can’t have got too much further,” said Simon.
Senior Brother Rex slowed the vehicle a little.
“Very good.”
Two minutes later, Simon pointed into the distance.
“Look there’s the turn, right after that McDonald’s!”
To his surprise, Senior Brother Rex brought the big vehicle to a halt. Jarryd and Simon looked at him expectantly. He didn’t say anything, just left the motor running and climbed out.
“Where’s he going?” asked Simon.
“Isn’t it obvious? He’s letting the gunmen out.”
***
Luke ducked a little lower when the truck finally came into view. It was travelling slow, barely a few miles an hour, right down the center of the two lanes. He could see three men in the cab but couldn’t make out their features. The music echoed around the parking lot as he watched them almost inch their way towards the McDonald’s.
It was excruciating.
He put the pistol on the dusty floor and wiped his sweaty hand down his thigh before picking it up again. If all went well, they would cruise right past and he wouldn’t need to use it. The Willatan Green people were safely hidden, and he didn’t intend on drawing any attention to himself.
That was when he spotted the four men carrying rifles walking behind the semi-trailer.
“Crap.”
They were dressed in the same monk habits as the Brothers he’d seen before, just with rifles instead of staffs. Luke willed himself to stay calm. This development didn’t change anything. He’d known all along they would come with guns, Diana had been certain of it. But, seeing four men carrying was a lot different to imagining it.
Still, as long as they kept going, everything would work out.
Luke didn’t realize he was holding his breath until his lungs began to burn. He slowly exhaled as the big rig passed the driveway and kept rolling along, the men behind it scanning the area around them.
Keep going. Keep going. Keep going.
The truck stopped.
35
Luke, his hand trembling, watched as the doors of the truck opened. A stout man in a black habit jumped lightly from the driver’s side. Luke recognized the first one out of the passenger side immediately. Jarryd. Tommy’s killer. A younger man with sandy hair got out behind him. He almost pushed Jarryd out of his way in his enthusiasm to get to the driveway.
For a second Luke wondered what he was doing as he walked in a wide circle, pointing at the road and mumbling to himself. He stopped at the mouth of the driveway and pointed down the driveway at a pile of horse droppings.
Luke muttered an expletive. In the rush he hadn’t noticed.
He didn’t waste any time watching what happened next. They were made. What was important now was that he got back to the others. He tucked the gun into his belt and crawled his way from the window to the back of the restaurant.
He risked a glance back through to the front window and made sure he wasn’t in their line of sight before jumping the counter and running through the kitchen. At the back door he paused before sprinting in a crouch towards the left corner of the Toyota building. He was careful to keep the restaurant between him and the Brotherhood as he jumped the small rail fence and dashed between used cars towards the smaller of the glass doors. He couldn’t see any movement behind the windows.
Thankfully, the door was open. He stepped through.
There was a movement to his right and he jerked around to find himself staring down the twin barrels of a shotgun. Diana was pointing it at him over the top of a partition.
“It’s me,” he said needlessly – she was already lowering the gun. “Where is everyone?”
“In the service center out back. I take it they didn’t go past?”
“No, they’re coming. I didn’t stick around to see how many, but there are at least four carrying automatic weapons.”
Her eyes grew distant.
“So, this is it then?”
He nodded.
“Afraid so.”
“Well, let’s give ‘em something to remember us by.”
“Yep.” He pointed to the other side of the building. “They’ll probably come in those doors. You stay there and pop up just like you did with me. I’ll get behind that red Scion there. Wait till a few are through the door, then we’ll see what we see…”
Diana ducked back down, and he rushed to the dusty blue Toyota Scion in the middle of the floor. He hunkered down at its rear. No matter which way they came in, he would have good line of sight.
He didn’t have long to wait.
***
“It’s fresh!” called Brother Simon, squatting next to the horseshit.
“Let the others out, Jarryd,” said Rex, a tremor of excitement in his voice. He waved the four gunmen to him.
“You want to leave the truck out here?”
“Yes! No more questions. Do it now!” Rex said, walking down the driveway to watch the building in the distance.
Jarryd burned with anger, but he managed to manufacture a curt nod before walking purposefully to the rear of the truck and pulled the door open.
“We have them cornered,” Jarryd said, as the men blinking in the daylight began to pile out. “Go to Brother Rex.”
As they were jumping out, Jarryd disappeared around the corner of the trailer, headed for the cab.
Senior Brother Rex was watching intently as the gunmen split into two pairs and moved towards the building. They stayed low and looked all business.
He turned as the sixteen arrived, their hickory staffs in hand.
“Where is Brother Jarryd?” he asked.
“Just closing the tailgate Sir, here he comes now,” said a man at the back.
Jarryd ran up to them, his staff in hand.
“Sorry, had to get my staff.”
His cheeks were flushed. Rex paid it no mi
nd, they were all excited to finally bring this chase to its bloody end. He addressed the men.
“Follow them in, be ready for anything. Leave none alive except the big redhead.”
“Yes Sir!” they called in unison and sprinted after the gunmen.
“Come Jarryd,” said Senior Brother Rex, setting off at a more leisurely pace. “There’s something I wish to discuss with you.”
Jarryd fell in beside him. His free hand slipped into the big roughly sewn pocket of his habit. They looked ahead as their men cautiously approached the building that housed the car showroom.
“What is it Rex?”
If the use of his name without the honorific disturbed him, Senior Brother Rex did not show it.
“Well I’ll come right out and say it. Brother Simon informed me that two Brothers left Willatan Green that day.”
“Really? Well, he has been known to be wrong.”
“That would explain Brother Taylor’s missing body though, wouldn’t it?”
Jarryd stopped.
“Are you accusing me of something?”
Rex paused and turned to face him.
“Yes. I am. I don’t know exactly what it is I’m accusing you of yet, but I’m sure with Brother Simon’s help I can get to the bottom of it…” he was interrupted by the abrupt popping of gunfire from the car dealership.
He glanced in that direction and then turned back to find himself looking down the barrel of a snub-nosed revolver. Jarryd had broken into the glove compartment of the truck and taken it. The weapon was secreted in there in case of emergencies and to Jarryd, the threat of Rex spilling his guts to the Council was an emergency.
“No need for all that work,” said Jarryd. “I confess, Rex. I killed Brother Taylor.”
Rex didn’t look shocked. In fact, a self-satisfied smile curled his lips. He nodded.
The bastard is happy he’s right. Why the fuck isn’t he scared?
“You don’t need to say anything Rex,” he said, hating the whine in his voice. He shook the gun at the bigger man. “The knowledge won’t do you any good because now I’m going to kill you too.”
Rex’s face was that of a teacher dealing with an errant child. He was confident and in control. Jarryd was a cocky but ultimately powerless annoyance and Rex knew he had him.
“Really? And how will you explain that away?”
“I won’t need to, you smug asshole.”
Rex’s smile dropped away and he began to raise his staff.
The shot took him in the forehead, the loud report lost amidst the gun battle behind them. Rex collapsed to the ground, his staff falling from lifeless fingers.
“Amen,” said Jarryd.
He put the revolver back in his pocket before stepping over his victim’s body and running for the car yard.
36
Diana fired the first shot. It was ear ringing loud. She hit the first guy through the door in the throat and he fell in a cloud of crimson. There were screams of “get back”. It took all of twenty seconds for the response.
The plate glass windows exploded in a storm of hot metal.
Luke fell to the cold, sealed cement floor and held the pistol tight. Bullets hammered into the car in front of him and the walls behind him. Shattered auto glass fell over him like a soft hail.
Twenty feet away he could see Diana’s feet under the partition. For a second, he thought she might be dead, then she squirmed, and the toe of her sneaker made a squeak that he somehow heard over the din.
The barrage continued for around forty seconds then stopped.
Luke thought about moving them. Had visions of running out Rambo style with his pistol. Then sense prevailed. Better to wait for them. If the four men behind the truck were the only ones armed with guns, the odds were now significantly better than they had been, 3-2 instead of 4-2.
He turned his gaze from Diana and swung his long body around to look at the glassless doors and windows to his left. He couldn’t see any movement but knew it wouldn’t be long. Keeping his belly against the floor, he crawled out from behind the car using his elbows for propulsion and began to slither to the front. He had made about five feet of the fifteen when a face appeared at the jagged edge of the window then ducked out of sight quickly.
Oh shit.
He’d been made. Luke rolled to his right as the gunmen reappeared, his bullets cratering the concrete where Luke had lain a second before. Luke felt a hot slice of pain across his thigh and began firing. The one-handed shooting wasn’t pretty. In fact, it was ugly. But he got lucky.
The gunmen had slipped back out of sight, but Luke’s third shot hit the drywall beside the window. It pierced the wall, striking the Brother in the back.
Luke heard his groan and the clatter of the falling gun.
2-2.
Boom!
There was no scream to accompany Diana’s second shot, but lots more return fire.
While the remaining gunmen were concentrating their fire on her window, Luke took the opportunity to crawl the rest of the way to the front wall and slowly stood until his face was level with the hole his bullet had made. He judged a quick look through the hole was worth the risk to see how things stood outside.
The quick glance didn’t tell him much at all. He couldn’t see anyone and assumed the enemy had taken cover behind the used cars in the lot. He caught movement to his right and jerked around. It was Diana. She crawled to him, staying below the sill of the window, then stood up when she reached him. He motioned her to duck down with him. He didn’t want a stray bullet to end their last stand.
“Did you see anything?” she asked.
Luke opened his mouth to answer but didn’t get the chance.
“You may as well come out!”
Luke didn’t recognize the voice but from the look on her face, he knew Diana did. She shook her head furiously as if he might actually consider the request.
“You can’t fight your way out,” Jarryd continued. “There are too many of us. If you come out now, I’ll spare the children. We’ll take them back with us and they’ll live long happy lives.”
“Fuck you Jarryd!” screamed Diana.
Luke cringed and waited for another hail of bullets. Instead, he heard low calm voices. That was somehow worse. His worried gaze met Diana’s.
“Momma?”
Diana clapped her hand over her mouth, her eyes filling with tears.
“You have ten seconds to come out with your hands up. After ten, we start killing the children, starting with… what’s your name, son? Good boy… starting with Samuel!
Diana closed her eyes and hugged the shotgun to her as she slid the rest of the way down the wall, finally defeated. Luke shook his head. They were done. As sure as he was that Jarryd was lying, he couldn’t take the chance that the bastard wouldn’t show some mercy. He sure as hell couldn’t let the kid die, any more than his mother could.
“Come on,” he said gently as he rose to his feet.
She wiped the tears from her eyes with the heel of her hand and nodded, accepting his hand. Luke pulled her to her feet and asked if she was ready. She nodded again.
“We’re coming out!” Luke called.
They stepped into the open window with their hands up, weapons in the air. He half expected they would be shot as soon as they appeared, but it seemed this Jarryd had a flare for the dramatic.
“Ahh! That’s the way,” he said, “Now slowly put the weapons down and come on out.”
They put the weapons on the floor and stepped over the low window sill onto the pavement.
“See son, I told you everything would be okay,” Jarryd said, putting his hand on Samuel’s shoulder.
Diana tensed but didn’t move.
One of the last two gunmen stood on the other side of Samuel, the muzzle of his gun pointed at the boy’s ear. The rest of the Diana’s group were in a huddle, on their knees with their hands on their heads. The other gunman stood over them.
One look in Brother Jarryd’s eyes
told him how this would go down.
The rest of the Brothers stood silently, sentinels watching what Luke knew now would be a bloody massacre. Tears of helpless rage blurred his vision. Not for him, but for these poor kids and their mothers.
“Aww, look the big man is crying,” said Jarryd, an ugly look on his face.
It was then, over the bastard’s shoulder, Luke noticed the black robed body in the distance.
“What happened? Did you have a falling out with your friend?”
Jarryd’s face displayed annoyance. His men turned to look back at the body of Senior Brother Rex.
“One of your bullets killed Brother Rex, God bless his soul. And you’ll pay dearly for it.”
“Hmm, that’s quite a distance. I didn’t think I was that good a shot. Especially one handed-” He held up his hook for illustration. “-with a pistol…”
“Enough!” Jarryd yelled, not quite managing to keep the strident tone from his voice.
The men of the Brotherhood began to look at each other and Jarryd knew he needed to get the situation under control quickly.
Luke wasn’t done though. Just the way you can’t avoid prodding a sore tooth with your tongue, he couldn’t let this go.
“No, I think you and the big guy had a falling out…”
“Shut up!” screamed Jarryd.
“Is this true, Senior Brother Jarryd?” asked one of the younger men. Luke recognized him as the one who had discovered their hiding place.
“Of course not, you idiot! Can’t you see what he’s trying to do!?” He turned to the man with his gun trained on Samuel. “Shoot the boy!”
“No, please! Don’t…” called Diana, shrugging off Luke’s arm and running over to her son.
“Too late,” Jarryd said, looking at Luke triumphantly. “Shoot the boy, then his mother.”
The man put the muzzle of his gun against the boy’s temple. Jarryd stepped back. Diana, sobbing, hugged Samuel to her. Luke, unable to stand by and just watch them be slaughtered, charged at them.
Fight Like Hell [America Falls Series | Books 1-6] Page 82